Improvement in buckle-clasps



F.. D. BALLOU. Buckle-Clasp. N. 212,832. Patented Mar. 4, |879.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIon.

FRANCIS D. BALLCU, OF MARLBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT lN eUoKLE-eLAsPs.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 212,832, dated March 4, 1879 application tiled November 19, 1878. f

To all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that l, FRANCIS D. BALLOU, of Marlborough, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Buckle- Clasps, of which the following' is a specification:

The invention relates to and is an improvement upon the buckle-clasp for which Letters 'Patent of the United States No. 55,197 were granted to A. B. Ely as my assignee May 29, 1866.

In that buckle-clasp the hinged leaf and the ridge which it shuts down on are round, and the plate beneath is unbroken.

To bind the strap or straps more securely in the clasp, and to accommodate the clasp to straps of different thicknesses, l have given to theleaf and ridge angular outlines, and have cut through the plate slots, into which the edges of the leaf may push and there bind portions of the strap or straps. The slots also afford means for attaching a strap permanently t0 the clasp, and I have provided a spring for holding the slide-catch in place on the hinged leaf.

In the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters of reference indicate like parts, Figure 1 is a top view of myimproved buckleclasp, with the hinged leaf thrown up. Fig. 2 is atop viewof the same equipped with straps. Fi 3 is a top view of the buckle-clasp closed upon the straps and fastened. Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-section, and Fig. 5 a vertical longitudinal section, ofthe same.

The plate A has two longitudinal slots, B B, cut init. The longitudinal edges of the hinged leaf C, when itis closed, carry portions ofthe strap D orstraps'into these slots, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and said leaf is pressed down until it binds these portions against the edges of the slots B B, so that whatever the thickness ofthe strap or straps they will be bound in these slots. Two slots are shown 5 but I do not confine my invention to this number. The end of a strap may be passed through either of these slots B B, and doubled back and fastened to the main portion of the strap, as shown in Fig. 4, where the end of the'strap D, having been passed downward through the adjacent slot, has been. securely fastened to the main part of the strap by the eyelet E. The ridge F, which rises from the plate A, is angular in cross-section, and the hinged leaf C corresponds in shape, as shown in Fig. 4, so that a strap is held more firmly between them than it would be if they were curved.

The slide-catch H is of elastic metal, and is curved at its outer end, so as to form a spring which is compressed somewhat by being slid. on the hinged leaf C, and so serves to hold the slide-catch in place on the leaf. y

To fasten a strap or straps in this improved buckle-clasp, the strap or straps heilig laid across the ridge,the hinged leafis brought down upon the strap or straps, and the slide-catch is pushed in until its curved end catches on the hinged leaf. To unfasten it, the slide-catch is slid out until it disengages from the hinged leaf, when the latter is thrown up.

1. The combination, in the described buckleclasp, ot' the plate provided with lengthwise slots and lengthwise ridge with a hinged leaf shutting longitudinally into the lengthwise slots and over the lengthwise ridge, so as to fasten a strap by friction and accommodate straps of different thicknesses, and means for fastening the same in place, as and for the purposes above described.

2. In the described buckle-clasp, composed of a plate having a ridge and ahinged leaf shutting over the same, a slide-catch sliding over the hinged leaf, and provided with a spring, which is compressed on the leaf, so as to hold the slide-catch in place over the leaf, as and for the purposes above described.

FRANCIS D. BALLOU.

I/Vitnesses FREDERICK P. FISH, Trios. L. LIvnRMoRn. 

